ADFAS Narrabri celebrated the end of its 2022 lecture season with Robert Ketton and his artist wife Catherine at the Crossing Theatre on Monday, October 17.
The couple, who hail from Toowoomba, delighted the crowd with Robert presenting his illustrated talk of Turner’s life and times, while Catherine painted a Turneresque oil painting, starting with a blank canvas in full view of the audience. Catherine’s painting was of Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland in the UK.
The event was of special interest to practising artists and Turner aficionados, and appealed to those interested in British history and art lovers keen to gain a deeper understanding of how artists produce their works of art.
Catherine’s painting was raffled on the night with ADFAS member Annie Lampe announced the lucky winner.
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) is one of those artists who has gained international fame and is instantly recognised all over the world just by his surname alone.
Turner’s paintings are also instantly recognisable, especially his romantic sunrises and sunsets, and the blending of oils where his horizons famously merge with ethereal scenes of oceans and land.
Turner was a child prodigy who became a student at the Royal Academy of Art in London at the age of just 14 and exhibited his first painting at the Academy the very next year.
He was a talented draughtsman and would teach perspective at the Academy in time, but more importantly he was an innovator and experimenter both with techniques and pigments.
His work was to influence other artists in turn, particularly launching a new era where Impressionist painters began to emerge throughout Europe.
ADFAS Narrabri chair Liz Campbell said the group have enjoyed an extremely successful year of arts lectures. “We are delighted to have been able to provide a bus for our Moree members and visitors and look forward to the continuation of this service in 2023,” she said.
“These lectures are held in Cinema 1, the Crossing Theatre. We would especially like to thank Paul Shelley and the staff at The Crossing Theatre who have worked above and beyond to accommodate the sound and visuals which make these lectures the success that they are.”
– Publicity officer
